Can you help us sustain this work?
Thank you,
Peter Wagner, Executive Director Donate
What’s New
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Talking turkey about the death penalty: outgoing governors and the president must use their clemency power now
President Biden and three governors should use their clemency powers before they leave office to save the lives of people facing the death penalty, our nation’s cruelest punishment.
November 18: Briefings
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Stop Cop Cities; Invest in Public Health Solutions
by Human Impact Partners
November 18: Research Library: Police and Policing
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Advocates urge Census Bureau to start testing reforms for 2030
Census Bureau should conduct small-scale tests of methods for collecting home addresses of incarcerated people to determine how best to implement a revision of the Residence Criteria and Residence Situations for people who are in correctional facilities on Census Day.
November 12: Prisoners of the Census Blog
Featured report
Does our county really need a bigger jail?
A guide to avoiding unnecessary jail expansion
Our report gives cities and counties a long-needed tool for fighting mass incarceration: a guide to preventing needless jail expansion. With jail populations having tripled in the last three decades, overcrowding in local jails is common — but there are simpler, cheaper, and more just solutions to jail crowding than building a new or bigger jail. We lay out 33 questions, and a list of best practices, to help local decision-makers understand the true costs of — and alternatives to — jail expansion.
Mass incarceration, state by state
Learn about the national prison crisis and how we can begin to turn the tide on mass incarceration. Then, drill down to your state. Be sure to also check out our pages focused on D.C., and the incarceration of Native people.
If our work is new to you, you might want to check out our 2023-2024 annual report.
Recommended Reading:
The unmet health needs of people in prison
States fall far short of their duty to meet the health needs of incarcerated people.
All profit, no risk
The bail industry exploits cracks and loopholes in the legal system to avoid accountability, while growing its profits.
Compare your state's use of the prison to the world at large
Criminal justice policy in every region of the United States is out of step with the rest of the world.
Prison Gerrymandering Project
We are leading the movement to protect our democracy from the Census Bureau's prison miscount.